Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 41.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $209.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.28. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $183.00 and a one year high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.39.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.